He is an idol and a childhood sweetheart.

"Hey...that's it."

Murakami blinked in surprise:

"Is it because I'm worried about Watanabe-kun... Ah, but think about it, this guy hasn't been home for more than a year, so it's natural for people around him to worry about him."

"Obviously even the people around him have noticed it, but he himself is not aware of it?"

Higuchi Enka couldn't help but complain.

"I wish you could remind him a little more often."

"Hahaha, sorry, sorry, it was indeed my fault for not reminding him properly."

Hearing Higuchi Enka's complaint, Murakami couldn't help but smile and pat his thigh:

"But... once you see that guy working so hard, you can't easily say anything to stop him."

"...Work hard?"

Higuchi Enka was stunned when he heard this.

Are you talking about that guy... working hard?There are obviously no other artists or employees in the office, so what is he working hard for?

"It's a long story...but since you are his childhood sweetheart, it should be okay to tell you."

Murakami took out his mobile phone, ordered a drink, and said:

"You know that idol who is popular right now... Toru Asakura, right?"

"

......"

Higuchi Enka nodded wordlessly.

Immediately afterwards, Murakami sighed slightly and said with a complicated face:

"Actually... that kid was an artist under Watanabe-kun a year and a half ago."

Chapter 6: A few words about the past

"It's been almost two years. Watanabe-kun once brought that Asakura-san to my place to sing."

Speaking of this, Murakami showed a nostalgic expression:

"It really scared me at the time. This guy pulled over a little girl who was either a junior high school student or a high school student out of nowhere, and then told me with a confident face that she would definitely surprise me... You She is his childhood sweetheart, as you should know. Although that kid is a little reckless sometimes, he is definitely not the kind of person who likes to talk big, so I arranged a session for Asakura the next day... The response was quite good. All the guests on the day were very happy with the show.”

"…………"

After hearing the name that concerned her very much, Higuchi Enka had already put down her guard, straightened her posture completely, and listened to Boss Murakami's story seriously.

Before that, she had indeed heard that Toru Asakura went to various courses with Kento Watanabe and ran around on his days off. However, out of respect for their privacy, she also did not Due to... personal reasons, she did not take the initiative to learn about the specific situation.

However, not taking the initiative to understand does not mean that she is not interested in it. Especially after she suddenly heard from Asakura a year and a half ago that the two of them had been "completely separated", she has been very concerned about it.The patience and speculation over the past year has completely exhausted her patience. Now she just hopes to know what happened a year ago as soon as possible.

Murakami didn't sell it, he just sighed and continued:

"I don't need to say more about those external conditions. Just look at her current popularity. Many young people in our store are her fans. But compared to appearance, I pay more attention to her musical literacy. .Although that kid occasionally forgets his words, his voice, temperament, and charisma are truly unparalleled. And under Watanabe-kun's training, that kid's basic skills can be said to be outstanding among the 'idol' group. . He led Asakura to star in my show for two consecutive weeks, and he immediately became my most popular 'idol'... Oh, thank you for your hard work."

At the same time, the waiter brought the mixed juice Murakami had just ordered in front of him.

Seeing this, Higuchi Enka finally remembered the lemon tea that she had put aside for a long time. Then she took the cup and took a small sip.

"After that, although the frequency of him bringing that child to my performance became less and less, I still heard about their activities from other guests and SNS. For example, Electric Street A small concert in front of a CD store, a party performance at a certain university, etc... Watanabe and that kid were working hard in their own way. And I always thought at the time that Watanabe and that kid would continue. Let’s stay active…”

Having said this, Murakami picked up the cup, took it out as if he was drinking, and drank half the cup of mixed juice in one breath.

"As a result, one night just three months later, I suddenly received a call from the store clerk, saying that Watanabe came here in despair, and then ordered a whole box of beer by himself. By the time I rushed to him, , he had drank ten bottles in a row, and he was lying on the table like a pile of mud, without saying a word, he just kept pouring wine into his mouth. "

“…………………………”

Hearing this, Higuchi Enka subconsciously pursed her lips and grabbed the clothes on her chest.

Even though she didn't actually see that scene, she still felt the heaviness and boredom in her chest just listening to Murakami's story.

At least in her memory, she had never seen Mr. Wanbian show such a fragile and depressed look.

"Although I really want to ask what happened...but just looking at his lost look, I really can't ask."

Murakami smiled bitterly and looked at the young people on the first floor who were still performing.

"He definitely doesn't want to recall things that can push him to the point where he needs to use alcohol to numb himself. And... after seeing the news on TV that Asakura debuted in that big company's idol project, I can probably guess almost exactly."

After hearing this, Higuchi Enka hesitated for a moment, and then asked in an uncertain tone:

"Is it... poaching?"

"That's probably what happened, and it was done in an unfair way."

There was a hint of obvious anger in Murakami's tone.

"I've seen this kind of thing too many times. It's like I took a fancy to a certain person in the band, so I just spent a lot of money to poach him. As a result, the band was disbanded. That's why I hate those big companies. Treating artists and music as commodities without understanding it... It’s really unreasonable. For them, isn’t there anything more important than money?”

"…………"

Higuchi Enka was speechless for a moment.

One is because she cannot truly understand Murakami's anger, and the other is because she is still speculating on the reason why Asakura was poached.

Neither Asakura nor Watanabe...are obviously the kind of people who love fame and fortune.

If it is true that they were poached by a large company in an unfair way... What exactly did the other party propose to make the two of them separate...

"...I'm sorry, Higuchi-san, I said something useless."

Murakami, who realized that he was a little out of sorts, smiled and scratched his head:

"Anyway, these are things in the past, and now Watanabe-kun has recovered well."

"You said that he was working hard...right?"

"Ah, yes, try your best."

"With all due respect, what is the effort you have been talking about... about?"

Higuchi Enka couldn't help but ask:

"As far as I know, he is the only one left in Watanabe's office. Even if he wants to resume his activities, he probably won't be able to do it. And he just told me that in order to retain future artists, He still has a lot to do...so what has he done in the past year and a half?"

At this time, she was eager to fill in the gaps left over the past year and a half...or even longer.

"Well...what did you do? For this idiot who hasn't been home for a year and a half, it may be a bit unconvincing to express this question in words."

As he spoke, Murakami stood up and picked up the juice cup:

"Then, just think of it as a mood change, Higuchi-kun, do you want to see Watanabe-kun at work?"

Chapter 7: Is there still haze behind the hard work?

The backstage of CC Livehouse is located on the second floor. There is a room marked [Customer Stop] deep in the corridor, which is where the backstage is located.

Lighting, sound, screens, dry ice installations, and even the electrical system are all managed here.

Under the leadership of Murakami, Higuchi Enka successfully walked into this room that she should not have entered, and saw a scene that was unforgettable for her——

"How? It's amazing, isn't it?"

Murakami smiled and asked:

"That guy usually looks like an ordinary gentle handsome guy, but when he is working hard, he seems to become another person... You have never seen him like this, right? Higuchi-san?"

I saw Kento Watanabe's left hand resting on the monitor earphones, his body moving gently to the beat of the music, and his eyes intently staring at the stage and auditorium through the glass in front. At the same time, his right hand moved rapidly between two instruments covered with countless knobs.

As his right hand moved, Higuchi Enka could clearly see that the lights on the stage were also changing accordingly.

"The instrument on the left is used to control stage lighting, chase light, top light, discharge light, column light. Each lamp, as well as the color and flashing mode of each lamp are controlled by that instrument. The instrument on the right is used to Controlling the stage sound, microphone, instruments, synthesizers, and accompaniment volume are all controlled by that instrument. And Watanabe-kun’s job is to manage those two instruments at the same time. Doesn’t it sound scary just by listening to it? "

"...Obviously these tasks shouldn't all be handed over to one person, right?"

Even though Higuchi Enka doesn't know much about the so-called backstage work, she still has this level of common sense.

"I have also watched many performances on TV. These concerts also have different people responsible for the sound and stage design. These tasks are obviously completed by different people. Why do you want to leave all these tasks to Du? Is there someone next to you?"

"Haha, that's generally true."

In response to Higuchi Enka's unhappy question, Murakami laughed loudly and said:

"After all, my family has run a livehouse for many years. Of course I know about this kind of thing, but... what if I say that it was Mr. Watanabe who made this request to me on the initiative?"

"………………Eh?"

Higuchi Enka was stunned when he heard this.

"Proactively...request?"

"uh-huh."

Murakami leaned against the wall and looked at Kento Watanabe who was unaware of the situation at the door with a slight smile.

"According to him, he did this work to better master the 'stage sense' and to provide as much help as possible for the future activities of his artists... At the beginning, of course, he was just following our person in charge. He started learning from scratch, and after nearly a month of continuous learning, he grew directly to the level you see today."

"A month of continuous learning..."

Higuchi Enka blinked:

"During this month...will he come here every day?"

"Yeah, even though he didn't ask me for salary that month, I had to give my lighting engineer and sound engineer a month's paid leave. This kid really causes trouble for others. .”

Although he complained like this, Murakami's expression showed no dissatisfaction at all.

"But if this can help him, I don't care...ah, I changed the song."

While the two were talking, the performance on stage had already moved on to the next song.

After Kento Watanabe quickly glanced at the track list at hand, he played on two instruments at the same time without hesitation.

After a series of adjustments, the originally bright and vibrant lights on the stage immediately became softer and more stable, while the volume of the synthesizer and the reverberation of the microphone were also lowered.

The next song is a ballad.

"Is learning these things... really useful to him?"

Looking at Kento Watanabe's back, Enka Higuchi asked sincerely:

"His goal is obviously to be a producer, so what is the use of mastering these backstage tasks to him..."

The main job of the producer is to coordinate the work arrangements of the artists, and to contact and plan with all parties. These stage tasks should not be related to him.Why did he spend a whole month...doing this kind of "useless work"?

Higuchi Enka was very puzzled by this.

After hearing this, Murakami nodded slightly and said:

"Yeah, you're right. Generally speaking, these jobs are indeed unrelated to producers... But, that's just generally speaking. The kind of producer Watanabe-kun wants to be is far more than that. This."

"What does it mean?"

"Don't forget, he only stayed with me for a short month. You can guess what he will do during the rest of the year and a half?"

"…………"

As study time, "one month" and "one and a half years", Murakami specially placed these two times in front of her as a parallel relationship.

A year and a half, a month, working hard, if... her understanding is not wrong...

"In the past year and a half...has he been 'learning' in various places in this way?"

"That's right."

Murakami nodded and answered in the affirmative.

"Although I don't know how many places he has been to, the ones I know about are already exaggerated. Such as the photo studio of a magazine, the logistics of a TV station, and even the salesperson of a CD store. As long as it is related to 'activities' He basically went to all the places. And everything was probably to prepare for the future. Seeing his desperate attitude, I really couldn't say anything to stop him no matter what. .”

"........."

Higuchi Enka did not answer any more, she just looked at Kento Watanabe who was still working seriously with complicated eyes.

This level of effort can indeed be called desperate.

Based on her understanding of Kento Watanabe, although he is not a lazy and lazy person, he definitely does not have such a desperate character.

And the reason why he suddenly worked so hard... was naturally the only one, right?